Great info for genealogy content providers. All the latest industry news based on press releases issued by genealogy vendors, societies, educators and other service providers.

TheGenealogist launches the First World War issues of The Sphere newspaper

TheGenealogist
has expanded its Newspaper and Magazine collection with the release of The Sphere that cover August 1914 to
June 1919.

Using the Historical newspapers and magazines resource on
TheGenealogist enables researchers to follow current affairs that may have
affected or concerned our ancestors at the time. Because the articles were
written as events were occurring, they provide contemporary accounts of the
world that our ancestors lived in and can furnish us with great insights into
opinions of the time. In the case of the First World War years, covered by this
release of The Sphere, we can gain
information about individuals or read about situations that are similar to ones
that our ancestors may have found themselves in.

The Sphere was an
illustrated paper founded by Clement Shorter (1857-1926) who was also
responsible for establishing the Tatler and
itcovered general news stories from
the UK and around the world.

War Memorials
collection

Also being released at this time by TheGenealogist are another 116 War Memorials containing 10,795
names. Included in this batch are a number of Boer War memorials as well as
those for the First World War. With this addition the total figure for
memorials on

Nick Thorne uses the Newspaper and Magazines collection to
better understand conditions in World War I

I have been looking a little closer into the war exploits of
my step-grandfather. I knew that he had joined the Royal Engineers Special
Reserve Motor Cyclist Division as a despatch rider but, like many of his
generation that fought in the First World War, he didn’t talk much about his
experiences. What I did know was that he had found it ‘quite exciting’ to ride
his despatches from headquarters to the front and back on a motorbike. He never
expanded on this and certainly didn’t tell us stories about his escapades, nor
what it was like to be a soldier on two wheels.

With the recent release of copies of The Sphere, on TheGenealogist, I was thus fascinated to come across
the December 12 1914 edition of the publication. Here was an article about
motorcycle despatch riders from the early part of the war. This day’s
publication featured a double page evocative image of a motor-cycle despatch
rider on his machine fleeing with the enemy on his tail. As I knew that my
step-grandfather was in his late twenties at the time and a keen motorcycle
rider I could imagine him reading pieces such as this and wanting to join up to
the R.E. Motor Cyclists to ‘do his bit’.

I know that Grandpa also served in the western theatre of
war and so this image and the report that followed, resonated with me. I could
now imagine him in similar situations as had been described and pictured in the
newspaper. In this particular article from the newly released records, the
rider telling his story suffers a whole lot of problems: ‘On returning I take the wrong road and my machine gives trouble, and
whilst repairing same I suddenly find myself surrounded by Uhlans.’ This
narrator is captured, has his hands bound behind his back and he feigns
illness. When his guard goes to fetch a doctor the British Tommy escapes by
rolling into a ditch. This episode makes me realise that when my
step-grandfather said it was ‘quite exciting’ this was probably a bit of an
understatement. Their duties were certainly not a simple ride in the
countryside.

The British Army in World War I would often used Douglas or
Triumph Motorcycles for despatch riding duties which only had between 2 and 5
hp engines. Some riders, however, brought their own machines along when they
joined up. These motorbikes would have to be inspected by the military to make
sure that they were suitable for the purpose; but in the early days, when many
of the men were volunteers, this would have meant that this section of the
Royal Engineers Signals would have been up and running quickly. In my
step-grandfather’s case, however, looking at his attestation papers I can see
that this part had been scored through -
indicating that he would have had to be issued with an army bike.

Later in the First World War Grandpa was wounded and by
reading other articles, such as that published on the 9th January 1915 about
the RAMC work at the front, I got an understanding for how injured men were
transferred in motorised omnibuses and ambulances that were also subject to
breakdowns of their own.

Resources such as The
Sphere, The War Illustrated, The Great War, The Illustrated London News,
plus the other historical newspapers and magazines already found on
TheGenealogist are great for building a picture of situations that our
ancestors may have found themselves in. In some cases we may be lucky enough to
find an ancestor actually named in a report - but even when that doesn’t happen
we can find write-ups that provide us with an understanding of the wider
conditions in which our ancestors worked, played or went to war in.

Another use that we can make of this resource is where we
have an ancestor who was unfortunate enough to have lost their lives, while
serving as an officer in the First World War.
In many editions of The Sphere
Rolls of Honour were published. In these we are able to find a picture along
with a few lines recording their loss.The Newspaper and Magazine collection is
available to all Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.